A Life Like a Norman Rockwell Painting Memoir by Michael Usey May 2, 2015 Ever heard of the mighty men of David? They were the OT version of the Avengers. They were known as the Gibborim and are described in 2 Sam 23. These mighty men of David were a group of David’s toughest military warriors who were credited with heroic feats. This group included Josheb-basshebeth, who killed 800 men in one battle with a spear. Another was named Eleazar, who stayed on the battlefield when other warriors fled and killed Philistines until his hand was stuck clenched around his sword, and Abishai, the leader of the mighty men, who…

A Force of Nature: Inez Stone Ryals Memoir By Michael Usey April 18, 2015 One of the ways that we here at College Park seek to follow Jesus is in the empowerment of women as full partners with men as disciples, leaders, ministers.  This is not by any means a radical notion, as many North American Christian Churches and denominations do so as well, but it remains controversial in conservative and fundamentalist churches as well as those of the Roman church, for example.  But we here at College Park follow the NT precedents. In the NT there are a number of women leaders. Mary Magdalene was the first witness to…

Memoir by Michael S. Usey March 29, 2015 What I like about Christianity is that it is primarily a faith about right practice rather right belief.  The two are intertwined, naturally.  What one believes leads to how one acts.  But over and over again Jesus emphasized that it’s not primarily what we say we believe, but rather how our actions show what we believe. In the so-called sermon on the mount in Matthew’s story of Jesus, he ends his teaching to his friends by saying, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father…

Peggy Has Left the Building Memoir By Michael Usey January 21, 2015 This past Sunday I listened to Peggy’s four adult children and spouses (along with many of her nine grandchildren) talk about her influence on their lives. As they spoke, it reminded me of the story of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible. In Ruth chapter 1, Naomi’s husband and two sons die and she is left with just her daughters-in-law. She encourages them to return to their home countries. One gladly obliges, but the other–Ruth–refuses to leave her side and says one of the most poetic things in the Bible, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn…

She Hath Done What She Could 29 July 2014 Memoir by Michael Usey One time when Ruth, Susan’s mother, was in Atlanta, she worshiped at Inman Park United Methodist Church.  During the service she spied the detail from Martha Beall Candler window there, specifically the ribboned words, “She Hath Done What She Could,” a quotation of course from the KJV of Mark 14.8 that we just heard read.  Those words struck Ruth, and she thought then that they were a pretty good statement of her life’s goal and purpose.  She passed this on to her daughter, Susan, whom we’re gathered to remember.  By the end of this service, I trust…

Sewing Circle: A Memoir for Marie Chambers Memoir by Michael Usey 19 June 2014 Darcie, Marie’s daughter, picked the psalms that we heard read this evening, and they are well chosen.  Psalm 23 is well known to those of us raised in a church or synagogue.  I love hearing texts like this that we’ve read or recited in hundreds of different ways over the course of our lives. Many readers think Psalm 23 was a psalm for a person on the lamb from the authorities.  Perhaps the original writer had committed a murder or unintentionally killed someone, and that person was fleeing from the relatives of the one who was…

Her Own Woman: A Memoir for Rozette Huckabee Memoir By Michael Usey February 1, 2014 One of the most excellent but subtle themes of our Bible is the significant role of ordinary people in salvation history. Read the Bible even casually and it’s clear that God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. You can see this truth, for example, if you look at a few of the women in our Bible. Time and time again, first in the history of the Jews, then in the stories of the early Christians, women led the way forward. It is strong women, full of grace and chutzpah, who move God’s love affair with…

Memoir by Michael Usey 28 December 2013 It’s a hard and painful thing to bury a friend who dies unexpectedly at 41. Most of us saw Chris just 10 days ago at our Christmas banquet, with Christopher in tow, the two were looking sharp. Chris had Christopher live by ZZ Top’s credo, “The whole world’s crazy about a sharp dressed man.” What to say when someone as young as Chris dies the day before Christmas with his beloved son asleep next to him? We’re careful not to say things offer false comfort, or things about which we cannot know. I don’t believe God took him, or that his death was…

With the Old Breed: Earl Edison Ryals  Memoir by Michael Usey August 24, 2012 Clarence Barton, one of my ministry supervisors in seminary, told me once that in every city there are people who are the quiet servant leaders of that place, and that a good pastor will seek those type of people.  They may or may not be prominent or be well known, but they are nevertheless the spiritual backbone of that town.  They are the ones who have touched so many people’s lives that it’s hard to meet someone who hasn’t been changed in some way by them.  I believe that we have come to remember such a…